LEGO is a Danish
toy company best known for its line of interconnecting
plastic bricks. The company adopted the name LEGO
in 1934, a portmanteau formed from the Danish
phrase "leg godt", meaning "play
well". Until 1949, the LEGO company primarily
produced wooden toys, though modern LEGO toys
are made from plastic.

LEGO's product was not always the superior system
of high-quality plastic building bricks that it
is today. It had self-effacing beginnings in the
workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a poor carpenter
from Billund, Denmark. His innovative family-owned
business would one day grow into one of the most
well respected toy companies in the world.

Beginnings:

In 1916, Christiansen
opened a woodworking shop in Billund, and earned
his living by constructing houses and furniture
for farmers in the region, with the help of a
small staff of apprentices. His workshop burned
down in 1924 when a fire, lit by his two young
sons, ignited some wood shavings. Fearless, Ole
Kirk took the calamity as an opportunity to construct
a larger workshop, and worked towards getting
bigger his business even further; however, the
Great Depression would soon have an impact on
his livelihood. In finding ways to minimize production
costs, Ole Kirk began producing miniature versions
of his products as design aids. It was these miniature
stepladders and ironing boards that inspired him
to begin producing toys.

Ole Kirk's shop started making wooden pull toys,
piggy banks, cars and trucks. He enjoyed a modest
amount of success, but families were poor and
often unable to manage to pay for such toys. Farmers
in the area sometimes traded food in exchange
for his toys; Ole Kirk found he had to continue
producing practical furniture in addition to toys
in order to stay in business. In the mid-1930s,
the yo-yo toy fad gave him a brief period of activity,
until its sudden fall down. Once again, Ole Kirk
turned disadvantage to his favor, turning the
disused yo-yo parts into wheels for a toy truck.
His son Godtfred began working for him, and taking
an active role in the company.

It was in 1934 that the company name LEGO was
coined by Christiansen from the Danish phrase
leg godt, meaning "play well." Some
claim that "LEGO" means "I put
together" or "I assemble" in Latin,
although this is a rather liberal translation
of a verb form that would normally translate as
"I read" or "I gather".

When plastic came into extensive use, Ole Kirk
kept with the times and began producing plastic
toys. One of the first modular toys to be produced
was a truck that could be taken apart and re-assembled.
It wasn't until 1949 that the interlocking plastic
bricks, which made the company well-known, were
developed. These "Automatic Binding Bricks",
manufactured from cellulose acetate, were developed
in the spirit of traditional wooden blocks that
could be stacked upon one another; the ground-breaking
concept, however, was that these plastic bricks
could be "locked" together. They had
several round "studs" on top, and a
hollow rectangular bottom. They would stick together,
but not so tightly that they couldn't be pulled
apart. In 1953, the bricks were given a new name:
“LEGO Mursten” , or "LEGO Bricks."

The use of plastic
for toy manufacture was not highly regarded by
retailers and consumers of the time. Many of LEGO's
shipments were returned, following poor sales;
it was thought that plastic toys could never substitute
wooden ones. Despite such criticism, however,
the Kirk Christiansens persevered. By 1954, Godtfred
had become the junior managing director of LEGO.
It was his conversation with an overseas buyer
that struck the idea of a toy system. Godtfred
saw the massive potential in LEGO bricks to become
a system for creative play, but the bricks still
had some problems from a technical standpoint:
their "locking" ability was limited,
and they were not very adaptable. It wasn't until
1958 that the modern-day brick design was developed.
The bricks were improved with hollow tubes in
the underside of the brick. This added support
in the base, enabling much better locking ability
and improved flexibility. That same year, Ole
Kirk Christiansen died, and Godtfred inherited
leadership of the company.

Growth:

LEGO developed substantially
over the coming years. In 1959, the Futura division
was founded within the company. Its small staff
was responsible for generating ideas for new sets.
Another warehouse fire struck the LEGO company
in 1960, consuming most of the company's inventory
of wooden toys; fortunately, the LEGO brick line
was strong enough by then that the company decided
to discard production of wooden toys. By the end
of the year, the staff of the LEGO company had
grown to 450. 1961 and 1962 saw the introduction
of the first LEGO wheels, an addition that expanded
the potential for building cars, trucks, busses
and other vehicles from LEGO bricks. There were
more than 50 sets of bricks in the LEGO System
of Play by this time. Another noteworthy expansion
to the Lego line occurred in 1979, with the establishment
of Lego Space sets. Astronaut minifigures, rockets,
lunar rovers and spaceships colonized this successful
series. Fabuland, a dream series targeted towards
younger children, debuted in this year as well,
as did the Scala series, featuring jewelry elements
marketed towards young girls. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen
became the president of Lego in this year; another
decade concluded with Lego toys still going strong.
. Also during this time, LEGO introduced toys
specifically targeted towards the pre-school market,
and made an understanding allowing Samsonite to
begin producing and selling LEGO products in Canada,
an arrangement that would continue until 1988.

In 1963, cellulose
acetate, the plastic material used to create LEGO
bricks, was dropped in favor of a more stable
material. Cellulose acetate was known to have
problems with discoloration and warping; its successor
was acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, or ABS plastic,
which is still used as of 2004. ABS had a number
of additional advantages over cellulose acetate:
it is more resistant to heat, acids, salt, and
other chemicals, and is non-toxic. LEGO bricks
manufactured from ABS plastic in 1963 still hold
most of their shape and color 40 years later,
and still neatly interlock with LEGO bricks manufactured
in 2003. 1964 was the first time that instruction
manuals were included in LEGO sets.

One of LEGO's
most successful series, the LEGO train system,
was first released in 1966. The original train
sets included a 4.5-volt motor and rails; two
years later, a 12-volt motor was introduced. On
June 7, 1968, the LEGOLAND Park in Billund was
opened. This theme park featured elaborate models
of miniature towns, built entirely from LEGO bricks.
The three-acre park fascinated 625,000 visitors
in its first year alone. During the next 20 years,
the park grew to more than eight times its original
size, and eventually averaged close to a million
paying visitors per year. More than eighteen million
LEGO sets were sold in 1968.

Expansion:

LEGO bricks had
always had a beneficial potential that was seen
by some educators as being an invaluable asset
in helping children to build up creativity and
problem-solving abilities. Since the 1960s, teachers
had been using LEGO bricks in the classroom for
a variety of reasons. In 1980, LEGO established
the Educational Products Department (eventually
renamed LEGO DACTA, in 1989), specifically to
expand the educational possibilities of their
toys. A packing and assembly factory opened in
Switzerland, followed by another in Jutland, Denmark
that manufactured LEGO tires.The second generation
LEGO Trains appeared in 1981. As before these
were available in either 4.5V (battery powered)
or 12V (mains powered), but a much wider variety
of accessories were available, including working
lights, remote-controlled points and signals,
and even decouplers.

The "Expert
Builder" series matured in 1982, becoming
the "Technic" series. August 13 of that
year marked the LEGO company's 50th anniversary;
the book 50 Years of Play was published to remember
the occasion. In the following year, the DUPLO
system was expanded to include sets for even younger
audiences, particularly infants; new sets included
baby rattles and figures with adjustable limbs.
In another year, LEGO minifig citizens gained
a realm of knights and horses, with the introduction
of the first Castle sets.

Light & Sound sets made their appearance in
1986; these sets included a battery pack with
electrical lights, buzzers, and other accessories
to add another dimension of realism to LEGO creations.
Also that year, LEGO's educational division produced
the Technic Computer Control, which was an educational
system whereby Technic robots, trucks, and other
motorized models could be controlled with a computer.
Manaus, Brazil gained a LEGO factory in this year,
as well.